Reply #11: U.S. to Intensify Army Oversight of Iraqi Police

[stop the bleeding]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 29 - American commanders are planning to increase significantly the number of soldiers advising Iraqi police commando units, in part to curtail abuse that the units are suspected of inflicting on Sunni Arabs, a senior commander in Iraq said Thursday.

Under the plan, which, the officer said, he expects will be formally approved in a few weeks, the number of advisers working with the Iraqi units would be greatly expanded. The advisers themselves would be under the command of American officers.

American advisers now accompany commando units as part of the vast effort to train and equip security forces to take over the fight against the insurgency and to maintain order.

But the number of advisers is relatively small: currently, groups of about 40 American soldiers each are attached to seven of the nine special Iraqi police brigades.

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12/30/2005 U.S. to Intensify Army Oversight of Iraqi Police-DEXTER FILKINS - nytimes.com